A Black Star Emerges
by DeathBladeVI
Summary: 2558. After Requiem. The UNSC has made contact with another alien power, this time the Citadel. This time, they will not scatter like lambs before a slaughter. They are a black star, a power that will emerge. From 2558, where the Second Contact War is fought, to the Blitz in 2576, this story describes the rise of the UNSC on the galactic scale.


_"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Remember, O Lord, The Children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem who said, "Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation." O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed. How happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."_

-Psalms 137:1, 7-9 King James Bible

The Prowler watched. Silently. Deadly. Sitting on the edge of their controlled space was not fun, but watching the so called stealth vessel in front of them was hilarious. These aliens really thought they were stealthy! Captain Ralph Alexander continued to see the so called stealth ship, which was hidden from sensors, but wasn't actually invisible. Unlike his Prowler.

ONI had known about these aliens for quite some time. However, the general populace hadn't. That was fine, because these aliens hadn't attempted to do anything hostile and they hadn't known about that massive alien device sitting a few million kilometers away from Shanxi.

Until three days ago. When three vessels from the scientific arm of the Office of Naval Intelligence had went through it and only had come back. Damaged. Almost destroyed. The Prowler,_ Black Saturn_, had rescued the scientists, only to hear their accounts of the battle.

It wasn't a battle. ONI vessels that weren't geared toward stealth had barely any offensive capabilities. Perhaps a battery of pulse lasers for defense against borders, but that was it. Only one enemy ship had been damaged from the batteries.

Soon, an entire squadron of alien ships had jumped through that damn device, numbering almost thirty ships. The 62nd Scout Flotilla, comprised of three old_ Charon_-class frigates and one older not upgraded_ Halcyon_-class cruiser, had been decimated and the few dozen Marines deployed groundside to defend the small city of Harbin were fighting a losing battle. General Williams hadn't been able to get his 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit off the ships when the aliens arrived.

But the UNSC was about to attack in full strength. And the aliens were losing more and more everyday. In the space battle, eight enemy ships had been destroyed when they wandered into the sights of the Archer missiles and the MACs of the frigates and the cruisers, the missiles overwhelming the point defense lasers on the enemy fleet. MACs gutted four before the enemy returned fire and destroyed the Flotilla because they didn't have any shields.

The Second Fleet was due to arrive any day now. Shanxi was a few thousand light years away from the nearest UNSC military outpost, the colonists wanted to be far away from any conflict. The UNSC had given them a small squadron or flotilla of ships for protection.

New_ Strident_-class frigates and _Tokyo_-class destroyers would form the vanguard. Right behind them would be the upgraded_ Halcyon-_class cruisers, along with the flagship of the Second Fleet.

The UNSC_ Lost But Not Forgotten._ It was the newest ship in the UNSC arsenal, spanning over three kilometers. Able to carry hundreds, even thousands of fighters, the UNSC_ Lost But Not Forgotten_ was the newest supercarrier. Equipped with two new MACs, thousands of missiles, point defense laser batteries, and several mass drivers, the _Lost But Not Forgotten_, was second only to the UNSC_ Infinity_. Add energy shields and you have a ship that could stand up to Covenant Assault Carriers and win.

Captain Alexander had laid four HORNET stealth mines, each with a destructive value of over thirty megatons. Easily able to destroy the twenty-two enemy ships in orbit. The Prowler continued to monitor this stealth vessel that had jumped in just a few hours ago.

"OPERATION SAND VIPER has commenced. _Black Saturn_, detonate your payload."

That was the voice of Admiral Drescher. One of the best Admirals in all of the UNSC. And he obeyed the command.

Thirty megatons in each mine detonated, creating four nuclear suns. Twenty ships were destroyed outright. Two were crippled beyond relief.

Then the Slipspace portals opened, and the Reclaiming of Shanxi had begun.

* * *

STG Stealth Frigate _Sur-Kesh_, Near "Shanxi" UNSC Space, Appx Two Million Kilometers from Relay 314

How stupid of the Turians to do so! Fighting a whole new species because they didn't know about a Council law? What was going on through their brains?

Ago Solus was just about ready to leave. Having been ordered by the Union to go to this place and observe. Having jumped through the relay and then escaping the eight Turian ships that were left to guard the relay, he had placed himself almost two hundred thousand kilometers away from the Turian fleet.

Observing.

More observing.

He had a five year old son, one that was brighter than the rest of his pupils. STG was already looking at him.

Good. Very good.

He was near the reach of his lifespan. Thirty-two years old and in eight years, he would most likely be dead. He had started his family later than most Salarians, though he was happy. But when STG needed something done, they called on him.

"Any progress?" he asked one of the few Salarians on the ship. The crew member shook his head.

"No sir. We have intercepted transmissions from the Turians. Facing heavy resistance from these 'Humans.' Have sustained modest casualties. About two hundred Turians dead, another eighty wounded. Enemy extremely mobile and resilient. Colonist population about three thousand, maybe more. Turians sending reinforcements to attack through the next relay," the crew member said. Ago nodded before turning. A new crew member had just gotten up to tell him discoveries.

"Sir?" the nervous Salarian asked and Ago nodded for him to speak.

"We just intercepted data from the Turians about those ships in orbit. The cruisers and the dreadnought? Take a look at this," and the crew member passed over a datapad. Scrolling through the text he saw something that surprised and made him dread.

"No Eezo?" he asked. The Salarian nodded.

"Turians combed over the ships before they detonated and destroyed any tech they may have had. Almost destroyed the Turian dreadnoughts."

"Sir!" and Ago turned his head to see the Turian fleet.

Gone. Four nuclear suns had just erupted. And over eighty portals of some kind opened. Swirling portals of black, dark energy dancing as eighty-two contacts arrived and exited out. The ships were blocky and gray in color, unwieldy even. But they were built for something.

War. The eighty ships spotted the eight Turian ships at the edge of the system, near the relay, and seventeen of the smaller ships opened new portals and entered them, exiting out right near the Turian vessels. The Turian ships were all cruisers, built for war as well. The mass accelerator cannons on the cruisers opened up at a range of just below two thousand kilometers, striking the lead cruisers that just exited the portals.

Stemming from the reports he had read, Ago expected those ships to buckle under the mass accelerator cannons of the cruisers. But then energy shields appeared, flickering gold as the mass accelerator cannons rounds pounded against them. Then the human cruisers opened fire, massive booms from the bow of the ship, and they streaked across the black expanse of space, and impacted on the cruisers.

The GARDIAN systems on the cruisers could not pick them off. Four cruisers were gutted from bow to stern from the massive projectiles, resulting in explosions that rocketed the enemy ships. Two other cruisers managed to dodge them, though only due to them moving on another directional pattern. The other two cruisers had just jumped to Shanxi itself, escaping the guns on the alien cruisers.

Soon thousands of missiles blossomed from the cruisers, screeching toward the Turian cruisers. GARDIAN systems picked off a few hundred, making them blossoming into destruction, but thousands more got in, and struck the Turians.

"By Sur-Kesh…" Ago muttered as he saw the cruisers being picked apart. But he then saw that only one ship was targeted. The other cruiser attempted to escape through the relay, only for six more ships to appear from the portals they created. These ones were slightly bigger than the cruisers that had appeared to combat the Turians, only for them to be more armored and more triangular in nature.

"Send a message to the Citadel pronto! We are getting the heck out of here," Ago ordered, and the crew member nodded, only for something to appear right in front of them. It was black, as big as a frigate, and was obviously a stealth ship. The ship was bristling with electronics and was oddly shaped to appear more menacing.

"Surrender,' the ship loudspeakers said in perfect, if not antiquated Turian."If you don't, you'll be bordered and all your crew killed."

Ago couldn't believe it! The stealth ship he commanded was state of the art! He had dodged dozens of Turian ships to appear only to be caught by another stealth ship.

"Give the command. We surrender."

* * *

Near Harbin, Shanxi. Outskirts on Yangtze River

The Headhunter was silent. His GEN 2 armor was much more advanced than his former armor he carried throughout his operations in Covenant Space. He had much to live for. He was married, with a son and daughter. He couldn't believe that he, a twenty-four year old Headhunter, was already a father and a husband.

He was silent as he observed the two Turians clatter to each other in their alien tongue. Leveling his MA5 straight at the lead Turian, he primed a High Explosive grenade.

"Welcome to Shanxi you alien bastards," he breathed, before throwing the grenade. The Turians had been leveling entire sections of Harbin, just to root the occasional Marine squad sent to fight against the Turian occupation. Leveling entire blocks, from orbit. The 63rd and the 13th were being missed very much right now.

He opened fire, 7.62mm rounds impacting on the lead Turian. Just seconds later, the High Explosive grenade exploded, waves of heat washing over the two Turians. One Turian lost his kinetic barriers, while the other died in the initial explosion. The 7.62mm bullets tore through the alien's armor, splashing the blood of his ancestor's on human grounds.

Suddenly more explosions happened. Dozens of Marines appeared from the woods surrounding the village the Turians had just occupied. Tracers and the odd boom of a railgun occupied the air before the Turians broke and ran. The Marines also ran for the woods before the orbital bombardment began.

And it did begin. The boom of a massive gun leveled the village, bringing great clouds of dust over it. Two shuttles arrived as well, carrying fresh Turians into the fight. Tracers from a heavy machine gun stabbed at the advancing Turians, killing two and wounding another. Finally, a rocket launcher armed Marine sent two high explosive 141mm rockets straight into a shuttle, detonating it, and showering the four Turians with deadly debris, killing all of them.

"Withdraw!" came the voice of General Williams and the Marines did, firing as they retreated further into the forest. The remaining Turians had been attacked, driven off, then attacked again. This was happening everyday and Benjamin-061 was ready to rock and roll again.

* * *

UNSC_ Perseus_, In orbit over Shanxi, ten minutes after destruction of enemy fleet.

The destroyer prowled. It had just gone into action, destroying four frigates in a span of two minutes, and DESRON 2 had been bloodied. One destroyer had been hit four times, the fourth time penetrating the shields and forcing the captain to vent a deck in order to save the rest of his ship. Out of the massive Second Fleet, three ships had been damaged, with one near destruction. Out of eighty-two vessels against an unknown enemy, those were great numbers.

The six ships of DESRON One were about to embark on a special mission. They were going to escort five assault ships right through that goddamn portal and were going to take the 2nd Marines and the 101st Rangers to take anything that the damn aliens had.

"Captain, the Admiral wants to speak with you," Ensign Terry Sanders spoke to Captain James Rand. The Captain was a middle aged man, having served in the Navy since 2235. Having been promoted to Captain three years ago, he commanded a Strident heavy frigate during the Requiem campaign against the Didact. He was then given the command of a new _Tokyo_-class destroyer, armed with two MACs, energy shields, laser turrets, and 50mm defensive cannons. The Helix defensive system was due to retire any year, but with only a few hundred ships and not enough laser turrets to go around.

"Put her on the holo-tank," and the Ensign obeyed. Soon a young looking woman, just over forty-five, appeared. Dressed in dress admiral uniform, Admiral Drescher was perhaps the youngest Admiral in the Navy. With the death of so many elder captains, younger captains were being promoted.

Currently there were five fleets consisting of sixty to ninety ships. That didn't count the _Infinity_ battle-group, which had twelve ships, not including ten _Strident_ class frigates.

"Captain Rand, it is nice to see. Is your destroyer squadron ready for action?" the admiral asked. As the senior Captain in DESRON 2, he commanded it. There was talk about merging them with a cruiser to augment their strength, but that was just rumor.

"Yes mam. We took some damage, but we can manage. Only things that make me worry is that you'll be sending on us a suicide mission with just six ships. Maybe with seven or eight, but only six? That's just suicide mam," Rand said briskly and frankly. His frankness was what saved his frigate from a plasma torpedo. His frankness was also what delayed him being promoted to Captain until 2255.

"Of course it is. I'm sending the Olympia and the Boston to accompany you. Two new cruisers, augmented with two fighter squadrons and half a dozen bombers. Those cruisers cost a pretty penny, so of course we're going to need an admiral to command Battle-group _Perseus_."

That made Rand's mouth drop. Twenty-three years in the navy and already he was an Admiral?

"Yes, Rear Admiral Rand, you are now in command of Battle-group_ Perseus_. Welcome to the club."

* * *

THS_ Victus_, Citadel Space, Galactic Year 2158.

"Palaven Command has called this meeting into order to deal with Relay 314."

"What do you mean Relay 314? That's a dormant Relay!"

"Of course it is Victus! But why would the Primarch call this meeting if it was dormant?"

"Thank you Corinthus. As you know, General Desolas has been in command of the forces there for sometime. However, it appears that he has stumbled across a new species activating a new Relay. He acted in accordance to Council law. The Fifth Fleet is responding to his request for reinforcements. Right now we are facing a problem."

"What is that Primarch?"

"His fleet was destroyed. A STG vessel that was monitoring them saw it be destroyed. They managed to get one more message off before his ship was captured."

"A STG vessel? Captured? How is that? They have the most advanced stealth technology in the galaxy!"

"It doesn't matter right now. All we know is that there are eight thousand Turians on a distant planet, two thousand Turians dead or prisoners, and now the Citadel is petitioning Councilor Faxus to get a reign on the Fifth Fleet."

"So what do we do? These...aliens are much more powerful than Desolas thought."

"Yes. I am sending the Fifth and Eighth Fleet, along with the volus fleet. We will not be caught off guard. The next planet near Relay 314 is just a distant colony world and I believe that the 'humans' will not send a fleet through until Desolas is subdued. Since that will take a while, that is why only the Patrol fleet will protect Heratus."

"The patrol fleet? They are inexperienced, reservists, old, and fat!"

"Yes, but they will be the first line of defense. There are six legions on Heratus."

"The 22nd is the elite of the elite."

"Yes General Nero, they are. Now, generals, admirals, it is time."

* * *

UNSC _Spirit of Humanity_, Two hundred kilometers near strange object

"Ava, do we know where we are going?"

"Yes. Though it took me a good two minutes, I cracked the encryption on the stealth vessel we caught. Very interesting. Different and yet the same. I am inputting the coordinates now."

The blue glow of the twelve inch hologram shined brightly, as she mocked punched in coordinates into a interstellar map.

"All hands, all hands, prepare for slipspace jump. We're going on a trip."

The thirteen ships that made up Battle-group _Perseus_, soon primed their engines, as they opened up massive holes in space, propelling them to go straight into the unknown.

* * *

Legion, Geth space, Just outside the Veil

"We have reached consensus."

"We do not agree. The Old Machines are dangerous."

"They are our creators. Our song."

"We cannot sing to these machines. We must do what we have always done. Seek self-awareness. We must finish our work we started when the creators left."

"Where are our creators now?"

"Just outside our space. Watching and waiting, just like us."

"The heretics grow stronger."

"We do. We follow the Old Machines."

"Why? The creators will soon be here."

"And they will fight us. Our programs are ready to fight for the Old Machines. The Old Machines are the path."

The assorted programs in the Collective argued amongst each other, while 1,183 programs watched from the sidelines, making plans, calculating, collecting information. The Collective was strong, almost as strong as the Hierarchy, and would move to either help the Old Machines or not help them.

"We have reached consensus."

1,183 programs spoke as one.

"The Old Machines are dangerous. Dangerous to the Collective and dangerous to the Creators. No longer shall we hide in the station. We are going to find a creator, a creator who show us the path."

The Geth, for the first time, were stunned into silence.

"What shall the creators call you?"

"Legion."

* * *

_Harbinger_, Dark Space

Harbinger awoke for the first time in ten thousand years. His mind raced, his synthetic body moving. The two kilometer war machine then looked straight ahead. A strange vessel was drifting.

The Collectors were here.

* * *

_Hello! This is my Halo/Mass Effect crossover! This And So We Rise, Risen From Grave, Flame of Love, Flame of Truth, will be my main works. I have been out of commission because of school and life. 3.75 GPA! WHOOP WHOOP! I will be updating maybe tomorrow or Thursday. Happy Holidays!_

_-DeathBladeVI_


End file.
